Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say  —  The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter.

4 killed, including 3 children, in Oregon elementary school shooting, source says.  Teen shooter is also dead, sources say  —  Three children and one adult were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, according to preliminary information from a law enforcement source.

Ukraine Resumes Strikes On Russian Refineries  —  Plus, Trump canceled plans to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter, and the FBI is investigating suspicious mailings sent to elections offices … 1. Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries after Moscow repeatedly violated a ceasefire on energy targets.

Trump's Midterm Mission: Turn Out Republicans  —  Democrats have the energy, but Republicans have the numbers — if they show up. … Adding Up  —  For years, one of the most reliable features of US politics has been Donald Trump's unbreakable hold on Republican voters.

Elon Musk Spends Heavily to Back Ken Paxton's Senate Bid in Texas  —  The world's richest person, who has become the biggest known midterm donor, gave $158 million to a group that quickly spent that much to help Mr. Paxton's Senate bid in Texas.  —  If Ken Paxton wins in Texas, he may have Elon Musk to thank.

Trump officials scrutinized Omar in 2019.  They didn't find citizenship issues.  —  The earlier review of Omar's immigration records looked at many of the same issues being investigated now.  —  SummaryLoading...  Seven years ago, a political appointee in the first Trump administration …

Teen Arrested Over Plan to Attack Hindu Temple, Officials Say  —  The suspect in suburban Chicago was in the parking lot of the temple on Sunday and told a co-worker that his gun had jammed, the authorities said.  —  A teenager in suburban Chicago was arrested before carrying out what was planned …

Trump sues California to prevent counting 20,000 voters' ballots  —  The Trump administration is suing California and two election officials over claims that there are suspected ineligible voters who received mail-in ballots for this November's election.

Kristi Noem no longer serving as Trump envoy to Shield of the Americas  —  Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is no longer serving as the Trump administration's special envoy for the Shield of the Americas initiative, a State Department official said Thursday …

'It's time for a change': Susan Collins split-ticketers seem to move on  —  Experts caution that a “secret weapon” could elevate turnout for Collins in Republican strongholds in Maine, but the president and the national environment may be too much for her to overcome.

El-Sayed's missing piece  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner  —  Good Friday morning.  We've got on-the-ground reports from Michigan and Alaska today — it must be 18 days until Election Day.  Get in touch.  —  In today's Playbook ...

Trump invokes executive privilege in Kennedy Center court fight  —  In a court filing, a lawyer for the White House said information about the president's management of the center, including efforts to add his name to it, should be off limits. … In a court filing late Wednesday, Joshua Hoyt …

GOP senator: Cancel Thanksgiving recess if we lose  —  Sen. Bernie Moreno wants his fellow Republicans to cancel their holiday plans and jam through “everything that we could possibly get” if they lose the majorities in November's midterms. … But Moreno (R-Ohio) is calling for the GOP …

He Joined the Military.  They Reported His Wife to ICE.  —  When a soldier's wife went to pick up her military ID at a base in Texas, ICE officers showed up.  —  Giovanna perez loaded her four kids into the car on September 21 and drove from their home in Weslaco, Texas, to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

Why America's Political Divide Is Also an Economic Divide  —  Plus, the Justice Department sues California to block mail-in ballots from 20,000 people, and Trump nixes the planned livestream of a military execution  —  Good morning.  One of the most telling data points from the 2020 election …

ICE Agents Who Rammed Worker Were Chasing Man Dead 9 Years, Family Says  —  An ICE operation in Houston left a Mexican man struck and injured by an S.U.V., but a bulletin of the target shows a man who died in 2017, his daughter said.  —  When immigration agents struck a man with an S.U.V …

Lutnick Throws the Future of U.S.-Mexico Trade Talks Into Further Doubt  —  The commerce secretary has objected to significant reductions in tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum and automobiles  —  Progress toward a U.S.-Mexico tariff deal has stalled after opposition from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick …

Democrats eye a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to flip state legislative chambers  —  With the national political winds at their backs, Democrats are targeting eight states for potential state government trifectas.  —  National Democrats have been growing increasingly confident …

Watching for a Blue Wave in South Carolina  —  Nancy Lacore was sacked by Pete Hegseth.  She wants to go back to Washington.  —  Nancy Lacore found out she was fired as the chief of the Navy Reserve almost a year to the day after she got the job.  On a Friday morning in August 2025 …

Land Acknowledgments Aren't Just Woke, They're Right  —  At events in today's woker spaces, it has become conventional to start things off by publicly noting that the land where the event is taking place was once inhabited by a certain Native American group (or groups).

Russian Bots Manipulate View Counts on Fake Videos Ahead of US Midterms  —  State-backed Matryoshka campaign targeting Democrats inflates view counts of fabricated stories, creating illusion of popularity.  —  Russian disinformation operators are deploying an army of bots to inflate view counts …

Power struggle erupts in Trump's White House as midterm losses loom  —  Top personnel are jockeying for position as some expect Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to step down after the elections.  —  SummaryLoading...  White House aides, who have kept clashes muted during President Donald Trump's second term …

The GOP's hopes of a tax cut election are falling flat, poll shows  —  Republicans once thought tax cuts would save the midterms.  —  But with less than three weeks until Election Day those hopes seem to be coming up short: New results from the POLITICO Poll show the sweeping tax …